Modality 3

Gender inequality through the prism of contemporary art

The aim of the project is to draw attention to various manifestations of graphic colour in Tajikistan through the techniques of contemporary art.

‘Nomi man bud... (My name was....)"

Hundreds of women in Tajikistan have committed suicide by throwing themselves into the river. Their stories are preserved only by river stones - unwitting witnesses to the tragedies of unfortunate women and guardians of their last words.

"Poppies"

The work is dedicated to the memory of a Tajik girl, Manora, who was murdered in her home. There were 26 stab wounds on her body and yet her death was ruled a suicide.
The installation is a symbolic representation of her dress, with bloody poppies blooming at the site of the wounds - an embodiment of feminine beauty, tenderness on the one hand, and pain, despair and hopelessness on the other.

"Women Without a Name"

Tajik housewives have many responsibilities and worries. But their labour is practically invisible, as they exist to create comfort for their husbands, sons and numerous relatives. And the true name of these women we do not know, because they change to their main life status: Shukhrat's wife, Rustam's mother, Bakhodur's sister.

‘Land of Forgotten Wives’

Wives of Tajik labour migrants are the most vulnerable social category in the country. Approximately one third of migrants, once settled in the host country, never return home. Women who are forgotten by their husbands are confused, depressed and do not know what to do or where to go. Many of them live in poverty, their daily diet often consisting only of tea and bread.

‘Arm wrestling’

Nothing so heats up the flames of passion as the housing issue, a significant number of conflicts between daughters-in-law and mother-in-law occur over property ownership.

‘Paranja’
This is a modern Tajik woman trying to pay tribute to tradition, but the inevitable influence of other cultures is evident in the fact
that her burqa is woven from glamour magazines.

‘Heart’

Parents, having chosen their daughter's future husband at their own discretion, condemn her to a life with a man she does not love. The girl, married to the man her parents have chosen for her, forbids herself to think about love. Her heart, being imprisoned, becomes stony and withers.

‘Maskun’

If Tajik women have nowhere to return to after a divorce, a court order requires the ex-husband to allocate her a place in his house, which is legally called ‘maskun’. Now a woman and her children have to live in her ex-husband's house under the same roof as him. If the man has married by this time, her situation becomes unbearable. Former relatives usually put pressure on her in every possible way so that the woman could not bear it and left. If a woman's life in marriage was a horror, after divorce it turns into a real hell. Circle, by analogy with the film ‘Viy’ personifies the protection from the evil force. On the one hand, the relatives of the former husband, perceive her as an enemy and demonise her, as her presence is highly undesirable in their home. On the other hand - delineating the circle, she is thus trying to protect herself from former relatives who hate her, and sometimes even pose a threat to her life.

"Red East"

"One of the most progressive episodes in women's struggle for equal rights should be considered
the arrival of socialism in Central Asia. In terms of emancipatory fervour, this period in many ways
surpasses the women's feminist movements in Western countries in the 60s and 70s. In addition to
strong slogans and the public rejection of the ‘burqa’, Soviet power created social,
economic and legal conditions for women's liberation, among them free
education, modern workplaces, protection of rights and social guarantees. The interactive
installation invites viewers to visually immerse themselves in this era and form their own attitudes towards it".

‘Plate’

The power of tradition can be both destructive and unifying. In this paper, the national material acts as a unifying force that tries to pull together the fragments - to restore the destroyed family and preserve family values. 72% of Tajik women believe that they have to tolerate violence in order to preserve the family

‘I met a girl’

The project is based on the famous Tajik film I Met a Girl, made in 1957. It tells about a simple girl with a beautiful voice who dreams of performing on the stage of a culture house. But her father does not allow her, and sends her to the village. The film shows how the state and society tried to fight the vestiges of feudal patriarchy and welcomed the aspirations of young people to self-realisation. Today we see the opposite picture - the state does not care, and society, due to Islamisation, is beginning to welcome patriarchal principles. Is it possible now for a simple girl with creative or other abilities to realise herself? In a society that is regressing. In which religious sentiments are becoming more and more prevalent. And freedom of choice is increasingly discouraged.

"Phrygian Hood"

"Liberty was usually depicted as a woman wearing a Phrygian cap (the Roman custom of giving such headdresses to slaves being set free).
The Phrygian cap became a popular emblem of the French Revolution, as in Delacroix's painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’
Here the ocean of the sun froze - the sun melted even the stones, and the great exodus began. An exodus of men - they left their homeland in search of new lands. The Goddess of Liberty was left without her warriors. Now her warriors are women.

‘Phantom‘

She is a phantom....... She gradually turns into a disembodied being, whose presence
is felt only by discovering everywhere the fruits of her ceaseless,
daily labour, which becomes an integral part of her existence. She
floats in the minds of others only as a vague shadow. Her essence is refracted,
she suppresses her instincts, her true desires for the benefit of others. With
time, playing the same role, she learns it by heart and it becomes her
‘true’ nature. What she wants is replaced by what they want.

‘Darling, I'll give you this star’

A retrospective of the famous Soviet animated film ‘Beloved, I'll give you this star’. The installation of a large number of metal sponges, scattered near the projector on which the cartoon is broadcast, invites us to plunge into a woman's daily life, which consists of endless washing pots. The sound of the iron sponge she uses to scrub the pot adds to the unpleasantness of watching this process. This ‘ritual’ remains unchanged in primitive society, in medieval times and in the distant future, when humanity goes into space.